on account of the Reformation in England. By this term is meant the substitution of the Protestant religion instead of the Roman Catholic. Until this period, the pope of Rome had claimed authority over England.

7. But Henry the Eighth took all the power to himself. If any of his subjects dared to have a religion unlike the king's they were either beheaded or burnt. The king was so proud of his religious character, that, after his quarrel with the pope he still called himself Defender of the Faith, though the title had been given him for defending papal authority.

8. The old tyrant died in 1547, at the age of fifty-six. One of his last acts was to cause the earl of Surrey to be beheaded, although he was guilty of no crime; and with that innocent blood upon his soul, King Henry the Eighth was summoned to the judgment-seat.

9. His son, Edward the Sixth, was but nine or ten years old when he ascended the throne. He was a fine and promising boy, but lived only to the age of sixteen. His sister Mary succeeded him, in 1553.

10. She bears the dreadful title of Bloody Queen Mary. Being a Roman Catholic, she caused persons to be burnt alive who denied the authority of the pope. Many bishops and godly ministers thus perished at the stake.

11. But even in the midst of the flames, they were happier than the Bloody Queen Mary. It seemed as if a fire were consuming her miserable heart. She knew that every

body hated her, and, after a reign of only five years, she died of mere trouble and anguish.

QUESTIONS.-1. When did Henry VII. begin to reign? What of him? 2. What of two impostors? Their names? Who did they pretend to be? 3. What became of them? 4. What of the riches of Henry VII.? 5. When did Henry VIII. begin to reign? What of him? What of his wives? 6. What great event occurred in his reign? What is meant by the Reformation? Who had claimed authority over England? 7. Why was the king called Defender of the Faith? 8. When did Henry VII. die? What was the last act of his reign? 9. What of Edward VI.? When did Mary begin to reign? 10. Why is she called Bloody Mary? 11. How long did she reign?

CHAP. CLIII.-EUROPE continued.

THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH.

1. THE famous Elizabeth, sister to the Bloody Mary, became queen in 1558. She was a Protestant, and therefore there were no more martyrdoms in England.

2. Elizabeth was truly a great queen, and England was never more respected than while this mighty woman held the sceptre in her hand. But she possessed hardly any of the kind of virtues that a woman ought to have. Yet she prided herself greatly on her beauty.

3. Many princes and great men desired to marry Elizabeth; but she chose to remain sole mistress of her person and her kingdom. And as she herself refused to take a husband, it made her very angry whenever any of the ladies of her court got married.

4. Philip the Second of Spain asked her hand in marriage. On her refusal, he sent his invincible Armada to invade England. But a storm destroyed part of the ships, and the English fleet conquered the remainder.

5. Some of the actions of Queen Elizabeth were almost as bad as those of old Harry, her father. When Mary, the beautiful queen of Scots, fled into England for protection, she caused her to be imprisoned eighteen years. And, after those long and weary years, the poor queen was tried, and condemned to die.

6. Elizabeth was resolved upon her death, but she was loath to incur the odium of such a crime. She therefore endeavoured to persuade the jailer to murder her. But as he steadfastly refused, Elizabeth signed the death-warrant, and the unfortunate Mary was beheaded.

7. When Queen Elizabeth grew old, she could not bear to look at her gray hairs, and withered and wrinkled visage, in a glass. Her maids of honour, therefore, had all the trouble of dressing her. Part of their business was to paint her face. The queen of course expected them to make her cheeks look red and rosy.

8. But, instead of putting the red paint on her cheeks, these mischievous maids of honour used sometimes, it is said, to put it all upon her nose. So they set this great queen on her throne, in the presence of her court, with her nose as bright as if it had caught fire.

9. The courtiers often made a fool of Elizabeth by pre

tending to be in love with her, even when she was old enough to be their grandmother. Among others, the earl of Essex paid his addresses to her, and became her chief favourite. But, at last he offended her, and was sentenced to lose his head.

10. When the earl of Essex was dead and gone, Queen Elizabeth bitterly repented of her cruelty. She was now very old, and she knew that nobody loved her, and there were none that she could love. She pined away, and never held up her head again; and in her seventieth year she died.

11. The bishops, and the wise and learned men of her court, came to look at her dead body. They were sad, for they doubted whether England would ever be so prosperous again, as while it was under the government of this mighty queen. And, in truth, of all the monarchs who have held the sceptre since that day, there has not been one who could sway it like the gray-haired woman, whose spirit had now passed into eternity.

QUESTIONS.-1. When did Elizabeth ascend the throne? What was her religion? 2. What of her? 3. Why did she not marry? What made her angry? 4. What of Philip of Spain? What of the Invincible Armada? 5. What was one of the worst actions of Queen Elizabeth? 6. What was the fate of Mary Queen of Scots? 7, 8. What trick did the maids of honour put upon Queen Elizabeth? 9. What of the earl of Essex? 10. How did Elizabeth feel after his death? 11. How did the great men of the court feel when they saw Elizabeth's dead body? What may be said of her government?

CHAP. CLIV.-EUROPE continued.

ACCESSION OF THE HOUSE OF STUART.

1. ELIZABETH was succeeded by James Stuart, king of Scotland. He was the sixth James that had ruled over that kingdom, but was James the First of England. He began to reign in 1603. James inherited the English crown, because he was the grandson of a daughter of Henry the Seventh. His mother was Mary, queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had beheaded.

2. The whole island of Great Britain was now under the same government. This event put an end to the wars which had raged between England and Scotland during many centuries. But it was a long time before the English and Scotch could live together like brethren.

3. As for King James, he was much fitter for a schoolmaster than for a king. He had a good deal of learning, and wrote several books. He delighted to talk Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin; and his courtiers were often puzzled to understand him.

4. James thought himself as wise as Solomon; and it must be owned that he possessed a sort of cunning, which greatly resembled wisdom. This was seen in his discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. The Roman Catholics had laid a plan to blow up the parliament house, at a time when the king, the lords, and all the members of parliament would be